Whitey Ford
04-30-2020, 10:29 AM
Coronavirus: Transgender people 'extremely vulnerable' during lockdown
https://i.imgur.com/XcHIcsZ.jpg
International transgender rights groups are warning global coronavirus lockdown restrictions have led to trans people being denied healthcare. Many have had surgeries delayed, and some are struggling to access hormone therapy and counselling services.
Gender reassignment surgeries have been delayed globally as a result of coronavirus - with elective procedures stopped to expand capacity for intensive care because of the pandemic.
Although hormone treatments are still available to many in the West, trans-rights groups in East Africa warn that may not be the case for transgender people in other continents.
"Transgender people are already an extremely vulnerable group," says Barbra Wangare, the Executive Director of East Africa Trans Health & Advocacy Network (EATHAN), "and support has historically never been a priority - even among the LGBT community. Coronavirus will only expose more of these vulnerabilities.
"We are hearing from people who say they fear they are detransitioning due to lack of access to medical care. This puts them in an extremely fragile emotional state."
Transgender people are about twice as likely to take their own lives as other LGBT people, according to a 2017 Lancaster University study, 'Suicide in Trans Populations'. The paper, which looked at several peer reviewed studies, suggests lack of health access adds particular pressure to the trans community.
The BBC has spoken to two transitioning men in Kenya and in the US about what coronavirus lockdown has meant to their transitions.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52457681
https://i.imgur.com/XcHIcsZ.jpg
International transgender rights groups are warning global coronavirus lockdown restrictions have led to trans people being denied healthcare. Many have had surgeries delayed, and some are struggling to access hormone therapy and counselling services.
Gender reassignment surgeries have been delayed globally as a result of coronavirus - with elective procedures stopped to expand capacity for intensive care because of the pandemic.
Although hormone treatments are still available to many in the West, trans-rights groups in East Africa warn that may not be the case for transgender people in other continents.
"Transgender people are already an extremely vulnerable group," says Barbra Wangare, the Executive Director of East Africa Trans Health & Advocacy Network (EATHAN), "and support has historically never been a priority - even among the LGBT community. Coronavirus will only expose more of these vulnerabilities.
"We are hearing from people who say they fear they are detransitioning due to lack of access to medical care. This puts them in an extremely fragile emotional state."
Transgender people are about twice as likely to take their own lives as other LGBT people, according to a 2017 Lancaster University study, 'Suicide in Trans Populations'. The paper, which looked at several peer reviewed studies, suggests lack of health access adds particular pressure to the trans community.
The BBC has spoken to two transitioning men in Kenya and in the US about what coronavirus lockdown has meant to their transitions.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52457681